Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Charleston, SC

April 26, 1996Screven County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1996, 2:58 PM EDT for Screven County, Georgia. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 1996, 2:58 PM EDT (18:58 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1996, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Screven County, GA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 26, 3:12 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Sylvania, GA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1996-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 82 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1996-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 206 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
82 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
588 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KCHS 261856 RRA
TORCHS
GAC251-262000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
258 PM EDT FRI APR 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  GEORGIA
 
   ...SCREVEN COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY RADAR NORTHEAST OF SCARBORO MOVING INTO
WESTERN SECTIONS OF SCREVEN COUNTY AND MOVING IN THE DIRECTION OF
SYLVANIA.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANpKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Apr 26, 9:52 AM EDT, 5 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 9:52 AM EDT, 5 hours 6 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
945 AM EDT FRI APR 265 1996

AGREE THAT FCST LOOKS GENLY ON TRACK...HOWEVER IF YOU COULD MAKE
CSTL PTLY CLDY INSTEAD OF MSTLY WOULD APPRECIA&TE...WE ARE MOSTLY
SUNNY HERE NOW AND EXPECT CLDY ONLY LATER THIS AFTN.  THANKS

JFT

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 26, 2:05 PM EDT, 53 minutes before
SCZ040-042>045-047>050-501-502-GAZ087-088099>101-114>119-137>141-
501-270200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
200 PM EDT FRI APR 26 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 8PM EDT...
...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS THE COASTAL COUNTIES...

A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IS
TRIGGERING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MIDLANDS.  THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
WILL MOVE THROUGH INTERIOR SECTIONS OF THE COASTAL COUNTIES BETWEEN 2
AND 4PM...AND THROUGH THE IMMEDIATE COASTAL COUNTIES BETWEEN 4 AND 6PM.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCE WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MILES
AN HOUR AS THEY MOVE THROUGH.  A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH
HIGHER WIND GUSTS POSSIBLE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO
AND TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE LATEST WEATHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...AND
STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
JFT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 2:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSJenkins58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.